What a Sweet Boy!

This morning while Drew was getting ready for school. He said, "Mommy....you are the BEST mommy ever!"

I LOVE this boy!!!

New Year's Eve

We typically don't do much on New Year's Eve but this year we went to some friends house to play cards, pictionary and eat YUMMY food! At midnight, I thought the neighbors were going to come out screaming when the kids started banging pots and pans and screaming Happy New Year! Andy had picked up some fireworks and let them off with the kids! I was way to cold to stay out and take pictures.

We had a great year......explored many places that we hadn't been or been to in a LONG time! Hopefully next year we will be able to do the same.

We are so grateful for our family, our friends and healthy kids! Hope everyone has a great 2011.

What a Productive Day

Today was such a productive day! We have been wanting to take Drew's train table out of his room but knew it would be an all day project because I would want to clean every inch of his room! Well....since it was raining today that is EXACTLY what we did! Now we need to get the bookcase/wall unit that we have been wanting to store all his legos put together on. Drew loves legos and is GREAT at putting them together.

The girls cleaned their room too! All the bedrooms look so good and fresh now! Great job kids! Garbage bags full of junk....donation pile....pile for friends....decluttered clean rooms is always a great way to start a new year off!

Lauren is patiently waiting to play pictionary on the U-Draw! It is so fun to play together as a family.

Great Giveaway on Girls With Good Taste!

There is a GREAT giveaway on www.meandjilly.blogspot.com. Go take a peek!

We BELIEVE in Santa!

One of our good friends asked if he could come over and play Santa for us this year! We have never done this but thought Drew would LOVE it! We got the text that he was 5 minutes away. Andy quickly put some fresh water (we figured he had had enough milk) in Santa's cup and stuck a few gifts out front on the porch then woke up the kids. I think I was more excited then they were! We stood at the stairs and listened to the jingle bells and knew he was here. Drew wanted to run back to bed since Santa wouldn't come and leave a gift if he was awake. I made him stay with me and we quietly watched. Santa ate the cookies and drank the "milk" and even left a few gifts. He stayed for 5 minutes or so and then told Rudolph he was needing to move to the next house. Drew's face was just priceless. This is all he has been talking about. Of course nobody believes him when he tells them that he saw Santa! We believe..... do you??

Christmas Break

This has been one of the most relaxing breaks we have had...no trips!! We were hoping to go to Hawaii on Christmas day but the loads were just too full. So instead here is a glimpse of what we have done:

* Emily and I spent two full days making headbands, flowers and clips! LITERALLY 2 full days....we had so much fun doing this together. We are now working on our blogs together.

* Lauren hasn't been around much. I think from Sunday-Thursday, I saw her once when she "dropped in" to ask for some money and quickly left again. "Mom...it is break" is her answer to me letting her know we miss her at home.

* Drew has stayed up late almost every night....not a good habit to get in. He has enjoyed staying up late/sleeping in. Next week is going to be hard for him. Drew has found a new love for the Wii.

Our family gift this year was U-Draw for the Wii. SO MUCH FUN! It is a game that we can all play together and have played it everyday since Christmas. Here is Lauren's picture of a stork!Has our house been spotless...NO! But I am liking the relaxation.

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Well....I think I must have forgotten that we are 3 hours ahead of our normal time.......3:00am bedtime isn't good when the alarm will be going off at 6:30! YIKES

We headed out to the Animal Kingdom today. Never been but thought we would try it. Disney goes all out and this was no exception! There was NO reason to shower and do hair because the minute we stepped outside it was flat and gross! HENCE....no pictures of me!

I finally got Andy to go on the rapids! Let me start by saying Drew and I were SOAKING wet......Andy was the driest of us all. It was our second ride so I looked even more like a drowned sewer rat! My favorite part of the day was the safari. It felt like we were in Africa. The giraffes were literally FEET from our jeep! So many things to see..parade, Lion King show, Nemo Show. It started to cloud up around 3pm. When we came out of the Nemo show it was POURING down rain. Luckily, we already bought our ponchos! No exception....we stayed until the park closed. Rain won't stop our family from having fun!

On the down side....Lauren doesn't feel too good. She didn't drink much today and is already asleep because of a headache. We kept telling her all day to keep drinking. The humidity makes us appreciate Arizona's DRY heat! Hopefully tomorrow she will feel better! We have a LONG day.....9am-midnight!! Magic Kingdom here we come!

One last note.......Andy went to the car to grab our ponchos so they can dry out and what did he find......a FREAKING SNAKE on the porch of our condo! Just my luck!

Hope everyone from our soccer team gets hear safely! We can't wait to see our girls play again.